Don't Panic
by sabaku-no-ketsueki
Summary: A mysterious plague hits their world, and every living thing is turned into cannibalistic, undead monsters. Naruto and Sakura soon find themselves as two of the few living survivors, with one goal in mind: to find their missing teammate. Zombie fic
1. It's Just the End of the World

Don't Panic

_I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am.  
--__Arthur Rimbaud_

_Chapter One:  
__It's Just the End of the World_

Naruto sighed as he closed the cupboard doors. "We're out," he said.

Sakura's head snapped towards him. "_Again_?!" she cried. "Already?"

He nodded warily. "Even though it's just the two of us, we eat a lot. Besides, we didn't take much the last time." He sighed again. "It's my turn, right?"

Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah, since I went out a last week."

"And you didn't take everything, right?" Naruto asked.

"No," she replied. "There's still about half the store left."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good." He thought for a moment. "We haven't visited them in a while, either. Maybe I should go say hi."

Sakura looked worried, but Naruto smiled reassuringly. "I bet there are still some flowers around here, eh?"

"Probably around back…"Sakura watched as Naruto made his way to the door. "Be careful, alright?"

Naruto stopped for a moment, and nodded without turning around. "I will."

He was gone before Sakura could say another word. She sank into a chair in the kitchen of the little house, and stared at her medical textbooks strewn across the table. _Fat lot of good they've been,_ she thought bitterly. But she had to occupy herself somehow, so she picked up an open book at random, and began to read the words which were already etched into her brain.

"_Chapter 14: Infectious Diseases. A disease spread from one organism to another, usually through saliva, bacteria, or blood contact…"_

* * *

Naruto shouldered the bag full of food, then surveyed the rest of the store. Nothing was broken, which was a good sign. There was still plenty of food left, so they could come back when they ran out again. The small, white, one-story building was still strong and sturdy, with its metal door and its boarded up windows. The frozen food had been thrown out long ago, when the power was cut; but that still left most of the food. He closed the door behind him, making it sure was completely secure, and locked it.

Their system really sucked.

Whenever they ran out of food, one would have to leave, while the other sat back at the house, worrying, waiting, wondering if they would ever come back.

Naruto cringed at the choice of words.

Today it was his turn. Sakura had found the abandoned store a few weeks ago, one of the only buildings still standing. Before that, they had simply gone out looking for food in random houses, which was even more dangerous.

Naruto came to his destination, and halted, putting his bag down. In front of him were a dozen or so crosses; some were blue, others their original wood colour. They had painted the crosses with the bucket of paint found in that same store. The blue were the ones whose bodies they found; the others' graves were empty.

Most of the crosses were blue; so Naruto went to those first. He'd been there so many times, he didn't need to read the names scratched into each piece of wood.

He knelt down in front of the first blue cross. "Hey, Bushy Brows," he said softly. "Have you been good?"

Naruto examined the soil surrounding the wood; it seemed undisturbed. He patted the dirt around it, and felt it to be solid. Satisfied, he moved on to the next.

Two crosses were placed purposely side-by-side; for the two cousins. He knelt down between them, and checked the dirt around them too. The names were becoming hard to see; he dusted them off, though it wasn't much help. But he could still make out the name of _Hyuuga. _

When he finished with the blue crosses, he went to the four brown ones. It was here he would place the flowers, to those who had yet to be found. If there were flowers on the others' graves, he wouldn't know if they had tried to escape; they would cover any evidence of disturbed dirt.

He knelt again to the first cross he came to. Its flowers were wilted and dying, so he tossed them aside, and replaced them with the flowers he had found behind the house.

The plants had long stems with small, fat, shockingly blue flowers. "These are nice, don't you think so?" Naruto whispered. "Don't you think so, Iruka-sensei?"

He placed the flowers on the cross, and moved on to the next. Sighing, he patted the next cross. "We saw you again today, Sai." He shook his head in exasperation. "When are you going to stop running?"

Still shaking his head, Naruto touched the next cross. "And _you_," he exclaimed, "I haven't seen you since that day, Shikamaru!"

He lingered at Shikamaru's spot for a minute longer before turning to the last cross. It was a little farther away from the rest, and it was completely blank; no name, no date, nothing.

Naruto sat in front of this cross, resting his head against it. "I don't know where you are," he said softly, "but you better not make us write your name here."

_Snap_!

His head whipped around to the forest; it wasn't too far away from the graveyard, so Naruto could easily hear the snapping of twigs. He could make out a tall, slumped figure deep in the forest, slowly coming towards him, with the determination of an animal locked onto its prey. Without a second thought, Naruto hastily stood up, went to where he dropped the bag of food, scooped it up, and ran. Never looking back, he went as fast as his legs would carry him, ignoring when they screamed in protest halfway back to the house.

He passed quickly by his now-familiar route back home. The quickest way was to cut through the back part of the Academy, a place Naruto would like to avoid. But in his blind desire to get back to the house, he went anyway.

Every window in the building was broken; the glass smashed from the inside. The doors that were left were scratched and worn down, turning the once friendly structure into a menacing, God-forsaken wasteland. The doors and walls were spotted with old, dried blood. Naruto couldn't help but slow down as he, once more, took in the condition of the one place he truly wanted to be. He winced as if the sight had dealt him a physical blow.

There was a loud crash inside the Academy, and Naruto swore. He picked up the pace; passing the cracked Stone faces which were ruined beyond recognition.

Except for the second last one, which was in pristine condition; that of the Yondaime.

* * *

When Sakura heard the sharp rap on the door, she instantly jumped up to open it, until she remembered her agreement with Naruto; so she waited another minute. When the second knock came, slower than the first, she ran over, and yanked open the door.

Relief flooded over her. Naruto looked a little worse for wear, but he seemed alright. He was panting heavily, eyes wide, and silently came into the room, dropping the bag of food on the table.

She took in his condition with worry. "You met one, didn't you?"

Wordlessly, he nodded.

"Did you get to see…who?"

He shook his head. "Too far away, and I didn't really want to stick around." Naruto plopped himself down onto the chair of the kitchen, the first room to come into from the door.

Sakura dug through the bag, and suddenly stopped. Picking up one of the packages, she laughed. Naruto looked around as Sakura said, "Did you even look at what you picked up?"

In her hand was a carton of instant ramen.

Naruto stared, stunned for a second, then broke out into one of his wide, foxish grins. These days, he hardly ever smiled like that.

Sakura gasped softly, then pulled out another carton of ramen. Naruto laughed. "Well, now I know what we're having for supper!"

Naruto went over to the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of water. Opening the package of ramen, he poured some into both packages. He then put them both in a pan, placed it on the stove, and stared at it for a second.

"We need…a fire ball…"he trailed off. Ever since the day of the attack, all the power had been cut off—therefore, no working stove or microwave. They had long since ditched the microwave, and used it as a weapon. Who would have thought that microwaves explode when they come into contact with the undead?

Naruto looked up at Sakura with a look of insecurity—something rare of Naruto, even in these times.

Sakura just smiled weakly. "It's alright, Naruto. We'll find him." She sounded more confident than she felt.

He just nodded, and looked back at the ramen, his appetite suddenly gone.

_Sasuke._

******

* * *

**

**So, I'd really like some feedback here! Should I continue? (Ah, I'll probably continue anyways, but if you like it, or even hate it, LET ME KNOW!)**

**_SNK_**

******Well, another story! A little bit odd, but hey, we'll live, right?  
And just for the record; this is NOT a NaruSaku fic. It's NOT!  
I'm also very sorry if anyone got 2 emails again! I put it up way too fast! I'm sorry! **


	2. And Death Shall Have No Dominion

"_All hope abandon, ye who enter here."  
__~Dante, Inferno_

_Chapter Two:  
And Death Shall Have No Dominion_

_The street was coated with blood, but not as many bodies as there should have been._

_Naruto flew down this street, looking for someone, anyone, who was still alive. And maybe they could tell him just what was going on._

_A figure suddenly materialized beside him. Screeching to a halt, Naruto jumped back in time to see that it was a young man around Kakashi's age, biting the air where Naruto's neck had been. Shuddering, he drew a kunai and whipped it at the dead man, hitting him square between the eyes. He made no noise as he fell to the ground, where he lay unmoving. _

_That was the most dangerous thing about them—they were completely silent._

_Naruto had fled his little apartment when the screaming started, grabbing a few weapons for good measure on the way out. Before he left, he had glanced out the window, seeing a few slumped figures slowly making their way to his home. Now that he knew what _they_ were, he didn't dare go back._

_He backed away from the man on the ground and took off again. He'd only gone a few steps when he came face-to-face with another one. This time, it was a woman; she looked to be a few years older than Naruto, with a tattered Konoha headband hanging off her forehead. She had probably been one of the first, for the decay was already starting to set in, and she had a large chunk missing from her left arm. But before she had a chance to lunge at Naruto, she started to fall towards him. He managed to stagger away as she landed face first in the dirt. Naruto made a noise of disgust, and then noticed the kunai sticking out of her graying neck. Looking up, he saw…_

"_Shikamaru!" The relief almost knocked him off his feet. There, standing a few feet away was Shikamaru; he had lost his Chunin vest and the headband usually tied around his arm, but other than that, he looked uninjured. Both boys were covered in dirt, muck and blood, but they mirrored each other's look of relief._

"_Naruto!" Shikamaru ran over to him. "You ok?"_

"_Define 'ok'," Naruto said bitterly. "What the hell is all this?" He gestured to the dead woman behind him._

_Shikamaru shrugged, but it was hardly casual. He was tense, but who could blame him? "I've heard a few things, and I was even talking to the Fifth about it—"_

"_WHAT?" Naruto interrupted. "You were talking to Grandma? When?!"_

"_Earlier? I don't know, just listen! She managed to examine one briefly, and we're pretty sure it's a virus."_

"_A _virus_?!" Naruto exclaimed. "A virus is doing all this?"_

"_I'll explain in a minute; let's just keep moving."_

_Shikamaru quickly relayed his findings to Naruto as they ran. "From what I've seen, and heard, it's basically a virus that kills the host, and then reanimates the dead corpse. They have just enough brain activity to experience the need to feed, but that's about it."_

_Naruto was horrified. "To…feed?"_

_Shikamaru nodded somberly. "On everything else. On the living. In other words, us." _

"_And if you get bitten, you're screwed." It wasn't a question; Naruto had watched it happen to a few unfortunate souls._

_Again, Shikamaru nodded. "That's how I lost my vest." He gestured to the thin shirt he was wearing. "Got bitten here," he gestured to his left shoulder, "but it protected me. The bite didn't go all the way through." He shuddered at the memory. "Saved my life. But I had to ditch it; didn't want to take any chances."_

_Naruto blew out a long breath through his mouth. "Have you seen anyone else?"_

_Shikamaru knew what he meant. "Yeah, actually. I ran into—"_

_But he was cut off when a shadow crept up behind him, and before Naruto had a chance to open his mouth, it sunk its teeth in Shikamaru's arm, who cried out in surprise and pain. Panic-stricken, he tried to shake off the dead man. Naruto's reaction was purely reflexes; he quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it, where it hit the man's forehead. Blood and guck came out the other side of its head; it released Shikamaru's arm as it fell back._

_They were both breathing hard, and Shikamaru fell back on his butt, staring at the large gash in his arm. _

_Naruto felt the cold dread settle in his stomach. "It's alright, Shikamaru," he said softly. "We'll figure out some way to—"_

"_No!" Shikamaru cut him off sharply. He exhaled shakily. "I'm not going to ask you to kill me, Naruto," he continued in a gentler tone. "And I'm not going to ask you to stay."_

"_But, Shikamaru…"Naruto trailed off. He knew he was right. _

"_I'm a liability now, and you know it," Shikamaru's voice shook a little. "We don't know when I'll…" his voice faltered, but then he continued. "You need to go, Naruto. Please."_

_Naruto bit his lip and knelt down next to his comrade. Wordlessly, he took a kunai—it was one of his last ones—and ripped off a part of his already torn shirt. He tore it into a long stretch of cloth, and tied it around Shikamaru's wound. Shikamaru whimpered softly in pain, but said nothing. When it was tied securely, he handed Shikamaru the knife, who took it. Naruto then got up, turned, and left._

_That was the last time they would see each other._

* * *

"Rough night?" Sakura asked as Naruto came down the stairs from the upper level. He grunted in acknowledgement and slumped into the nearest chair at the kitchen table. Sakura glanced anxiously over her shoulder at him.

"It's fine," Naruto said dismissively. "Just a bad dream."

Sakura nodded. She'd had plenty of those.

"Well, here's something to cheer you up." Sakura turned away from the stove top with a fraying pan in hand. "Pancakes!"

Naruto smirked. "How many did you burn this time?"

"Two, thank you very much," Sakura huffed.

"Well, well," Naruto said. "You're getting better at the whole cooking thing."

When they had first moved into the house, they had the immediate problem of finding food. They then encountered the next dilemma: cooking it. After a couple of days of eating a lot of raw noodles, Sakura—after many burned trees, practicing, and colourful language—managed to perform the fire ball jutsu of the Uchiha clan, with barely half the power. But it was enough.

It didn't take too long to figure out who was the cooking expert of the two. Sakura was standing by the stove, sighing in frustration at the burned noodles, when Naruto gently took the spoon from her and began to stir it correctly. Sakura simply stood by as he expertly twirled the noodles around the spoon, pulled it out of the water, and let it cool for a few seconds before dipping it back into the boiling water; all without spilling so much as a drop.

Naruto smiled sadly at her unasked question. "I guess," he said softly, "you figure out how to cook when you live on your own for twelve years."

He thought for a second. "Well, I had to do my own cooking when I was training with the pervy sage, too."

But Sakura could still only stare, awed by this internal strength she had never seen.

From that day on, Naruto did most of the cooking, while teaching Sakura a thing or two, and every now and then, she would try her hand at making something simple, like breakfast.

This breakfast was made up of a pancake mix taken from the store— they had nicknamed it "Dead Man's Shop"—along with a carton of orange juice.

Sakura sat across from Naruto as he ate. "So?" she inquired. "Does it get your seal of approval?"

Naruto pretended to think for a moment, tapping his fork to his chin. "I guess so," he smirked. She smacked him playfully on the arm.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Naruto asked as Sakura sat down with a plate of her own.

"Well…"Sakura thought for a moment. "We've got enough food, and nothing's broken…"Her face suddenly lit up. "So it's cleaning day!"

Naruto groaned loudly. "What?! Didn't we JUST do that?"

Sakura tsked. "I've seen your clothes, Naruto. It's definitely been a while."

Naruto made a face. "At least it's not my turn to do the laundry," he muttered.

Laughing, Sakura gathered up the dishes. "True, but you get to clean up the house!"

He rolled his eyes at the word "house", but said nothing. "Guess I'll start upstairs."

"Throw me down your dirty stuff, then."

Climbing the stairs two at a time, Naruto turned into the first room on the left in the upstairs hallway: his room. He swept up every piece of clothing he could find, then examined the shirt he was wearing—a dark blue short sleeve shirt, with orange swirls on the arms, and another, larger orange swirl in the center—and decided to chuck that in the pile, too.

With the stack of clothes teetering dangerous in his arms, Naruto staggered down the stairs. Sakura met him at the bottom and took them, chuckling slightly.

"Hurry up, eh?" Naruto joked. "I kind of don't have a shirt at the moment."

The sight of either one of them without a shirt on would have made the other blush, but these days it didn't matter. Instead, Sakura stuck out her tongue, put all the clothes in a basket, and walked out the back door. Just behind the house, they had set up a little washing station: a large pan that wasn't any good for cooking, filled with rainwater, and some soap from the store. The second floor of their home had 3 rooms, so they set up a drying rack in the extra room. It probably would have been faster if they had set it up outside, but they didn't want to take any chances.

Laundry was officially an extreme sport.

Most likely because it had to be done outside. Being outside was always a danger, but it couldn't be avoided. Whoever's turn it was would see how fast they could clean every article of clothing before they had a heart attack. That day, it was Sakura's turn.

She was barely halfway through of it when it happened.

_Footsteps_.

Sakura froze, the shirt in her hand falling to the ground. She tried to turn back to the house, but her feet were planted to the spot. The shuffling behind her grew closer, and it became apparent that there was more than one.

Then it abruptly stopped. "Hello?"

Sakura spun around, the sound of an unfamiliar voice having unfrozen her legs. A girl, around sixteen, was standing a few feet away. Her clothes were in tatters, her brown hair a messy halo around her head, but seemed otherwise unharmed. A headband around her neck showed she had once belonged to the Hidden Storm Village. A little ways behind her, two more people stood: a boy and another girl, both from the same village. The boy was leaning on the other girl, a bloody bandage around his leg.

"Oh dear God." Sakura put a hand over her heart, sighing in relief. "You're alive."

The girl smiled sadly. "Yes. I see the same thing has happened everywhere…"She trailed off, staring at something over Sakura's shoulder. "I'm Aichu," she said, snapping her attention back to Sakura.

Sakura bowed slightly. "Haruno Sakura."

Nodding, Aichu asked, "Do you live here alone?"

"No," Sakura replied. "Naruto lives here, too; he's a friend of mine. After the village was attacked, we managed to find this." She gestured to the house.

"Which village?"

Sakura sighed. "Konoha. Hidden Leaf."

"Yes, I have heard of that one." Aichu smiled. "You're very lucky to have found your friend…"

She was cut off by the boy behind her, who dissolved into a violent coughing fit, bending over with the force of it. The girl he was leaning on put a hand on his back, muttering softly to him. The ground was stained red when it subsided.

Sakura raised her eyebrows as she noticed the wound on his leg. "So he was…"

"Bitten, yes." Aichu turned to her teammates, shooting them a look of concern. The other girl looked up, her eyes filling with tears. The boy's dark bangs fell into his pale face in a way that reminded Sakura of Sasuke. Her heart throbbed painfully.

The boy was mumbling something to the other girl, who pulled him into her arms in response. "We know what will happen," Aichu said slowly, "which is why we cannot ask you to let us stay. He begged us to leave him behind, but we refused." She turned back to Sakura, and her eyes betrayed her pain. "We'll stay with him until the end."

After giving them some food to take along the way, and introducing them to Naruto ("Living people! Awesome! "), the Storm ninja went on their way.

Naruto and Sakura saw them off from just outside the door. Naruto put his hands behind his head. "What'll happen to them, I wonder?"

"They'll stay with him, like they said." Sakura replied. "Then, I guess they'll have to…kill him."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged nervous glances.

"Well," Naruto said finally, "I dunno about you, but I'm going inside. Screw the housework, let's have lunch."

Sakura nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Taking one last look at the three shinobi—who were little more than specks in the distance—Sakura turned and followed Naruto into the house.

* * *

**I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS!**

**I'm really liking the way this is turning out, plot-wise. I don't care if it takes years! (which it probably will) I WILL FINISH THIS!**

**Anyways, sorry for the lllllllllllloooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggg break. I've been working on doing some more writing lately, but that hasn't really worked out. And things have been busy. Very, very busy. For this, I apologize. Sort of.**

**First title ever that isn't a song title. Huh. I stole this chapter title from City of Ashes. I know, I know, EVIL COPYRIGHT-NESS! well, not now! Bwahaha!**

**Big ass-kicking thanks to Tess for letting me steal her character and putting it in here. I changed the Village and hair colour, but that's it! I swear! I think!**

**Don't expect the next chapter anytime soon. Sorry, KK! and Tess! **

**I've probably forgotten to say something. Oh well. And I _do_ apologize for the fact that it sounds like I'm ripping off Resident Evil (though I am, sort of :P)**

**_Disclaimer_: I own nothing, the usual, blah blah.**

**Reviews, constructive criticism are much appreciated! **

**_SNK_**


	3. Scars of Friendship

_God give us strength.  
__Strength to hold on,  
__And strength to let go.  
__~Michael Leunig_

_Chapter 3:  
__Scars of Friendship_

"There he is."

Through their small glass window, Naruto could just barely make out the shape of a boy loping towards them, too far away to make out any identifiable feature. But Naruto already knew who it was.

He turned to Sakura, crouching beside him, her head next to his under the windowpane. She nodded, seeing the figure inch towards them. "And he's alone."

"Not surprising," Naruto said. "The only reason they would ever be in a group is if they all happened to be going the same way." Sakura nodded again.

"So what's the plan?" Naruto lowered his voice as the boy came closer into view.

Sakura hesitated. "We'll have to kill him."

Naruto's jaw tightened. "How can we kill what's already dead?"

Sakura winced.

"You have to remember," Naruto said, "that's not him anymore. He's gone; all that remains is the vessel."

Sakura's fists clenched around the window sill. "Doesn't make it any easier."

Naruto sighed. "Never said it did."

They could see the figure with more clarity now: his short, jet black hair was made even darker with dirt and blood. Both sandals were missing, along with a good section of his already short shirt, showing various wounds that had long ago stopped bleeding.

His face was soon visible, along with the vacant, hungry look of a predator who had long forgotten his soul.

Sakura exhaled loudly and turned to Naruto. "You ready?"

Naruto nodded. They had been planning this for quite some time now, especially after this particular monster kept escaping from them.

"Alright." Naruto stood and slipped a kunai into his hand. "Here we come, Sai."

Racing upstairs, he opened the window in his room and slipped out, grabbing the top and flipping up to the roof. Sai was now at the front of the house, wandering aimlessly around it. Naruto took aim, hoping he could end it right there. Just as he was about to throw, Sai looked up at the rooftop. Naruto faltered, seeing the Konoha headband still intact on his teammate's decaying forehead like a slap in the face. When the knife did leave Naruto's hand, it missed its intended target, and buried itself in Sai's exposed stomach.

Naruto made a noise of exasperation. _This_ was why they kept failing.

A noise to his left made him turn, heart in his throat. To his surprise, it was Sakura. "Did you get him?" she asked anxiously.

"What?" Naruto asked stupidly. "What the hell are you doing _here_? The plan—"

A crash from below cut him off and told him that their window was officially broken. "Aw, hell," Naruto murmured. Now he was in the house.

No. Now _it _was in the house.

A peek over the lip of the slanted roof proved him wrong: Sai had indeed broken one of their only windows, but he was standing outside it, unable to climb over the ledge. He howled his frustration.

Naruto winced at the sound, and Sakura blanched. Her impatience to end this game of cat and mouse drove her to the ground, where she gave her former teammate a good, swift kick to the head. Unfortunately, the momentum of the blow sent Sai through the broken window.

Naruto groaned. _Well, _now _he's in the house._

No. Not _he_.

Sakura cursed, and Naruto dropped to the ground next to her. They listened as Sai crashed around in the kitchen, effectively knocking over the table and breaking most of the dishes on it. "What the crap do we do now?" Naruto asked, agitated.

"We go in after him, obviously!" Sakura started over the windowsill, but Naruto caught her arm.

"Zombie," he said slowly, "plus confined space," he gestured to the house, "equals _bad_."

Sakura made a noise of impatience. "So what should we do, Mr. I-Know-Everything?"

"We wait," he said simply.

"Wait for what? For him to open the front door, apologize for the mess, and offer to fix the window?"

Naruto's mouth twitched. It was a rather amusing image. "He'll wander out eventually."

"I hate waiting," Sakura muttered.

"Well, we wouldn't have to wait if you'd stayed on the ground!" Naruto flung at her. "That was the _plan!_ Why didn't you stick to the goddamn plan?!"

"I thought you got him!" Sakura screamed back. Her voice quivered slightly. "I thought this was finally _over!_ So excuse me for jumping to conclusions!"

Another crash from inside brought them back to reality. Naruto exhaled sharply. "Well, that doesn't matter now."

"We should open the doors," Sakura suggested.

Naruto nodded. They had only two doors: front and back. With an unspoken agreement, Naruto took front, and Sakura, the latter.

With the doors open, they retreated back to the roof and waited. And waited. And waited.

"This is not working," Sakura said.

"I know, I_ know_," Naruto snapped. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Alright, let's go in after him." Fear cut through him, white hot and sharp.

"What about your equation?"

Naruto ignored her.

Sakura sighed unhappily. "Don't get yourself killed, idiot." With that, she was gone.

Willing his hands to stop shaking, he followed.

* * *

The house was a disaster zone.

Broken glass and pieces of dishes littered the floor, and the table had been overturned—though still in one piece, thankfully. The chairs weren't as fortunate: many of the legs had been snapped off and were strewn about the room. The walls had deep, bloody scratches all the way to the stairs, and their almost-useless stove now had a new dent in it.

And that was only the kitchen.

Naruto swallowed audibly and headed upstairs, where it was deceivingly quiet. As he crept upwards, he saw more lines of blood in the walls, almost like a taunt: _here I am, com__e and get me._

He reached the top and scanned the small hallway. One his right were two rooms: Sakura's and the bathroom. To the left, his room and a spare. At the end was a larger room that had probably been used for storage once upon a time. At the moment, it was their rather empty pantry.

The doors to all the rooms were open. Pushing the fear aside, he went to the closest: Sakura's.

Poking his head in, he looked around. Nothing there but her bed, a desk, and a stool. On the desk was their Team 7 photo.

The floor creaked behind him, making him whip around, kunai in hand—the fear, cold and familiar, was back, choking him with its intensity.

"Holy crap, it's just me!" Sakura took a small step back.

"Dammit, Sakura! I almost put a kunai in your brain!" Shoving the knife back in his pocket, he willed his heart to slow down.

"I checked this whole floor," Sakura informed him. "He's not here." She sounded unsettled.

"He must be," Naruto countered. "Where else would he be?"

The _crack! _of wood was his answer.

_Did we __just lose a door?_ Naruto thought randomly.

Rushing downstairs, the two saw that they had, in fact, lost a door. The back door, to be specific. It lay on its side beside their little washing station outside, ripped from its hinges.

Naruto and Sakura stared at the fallen door, and brought their gazes up to peer outside. Running off in the distance was Sai, who had gotten away from them yet again.

Sakura groaned in defeat. "Not again!"

But Naruto could only laugh. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. "He's good."

* * *

Cleaning was always the worst.

They had managed to scrub the blood off the walls, but the deep scratches would be there to stay—a reminder that he was still out there.

The glass was cleaned up off the floor, though the gaping hole in the wall where the window once was another matter. They weren't sure what to do with it; for now, a bed sheet with duct tape would have to do.

Making a mental note to pick up more dishes on the next outing, Sakura carried the garbage to the pit they had dug in the dirt near the house. It was small, but deep. Sakura dumped the load into the ground and came around the back, where Naruto stood, considering the broken door.

"What should we do about that?" Naruto asked.

Sakura bent down and ran a hand across the side, where the hinges had connected to the wood. "It's ripped right off," she said. "But it looks fairly clean, so we might as well try to reattach it."

Naruto sighed at the thought of work. Together they stood the door back up and pushed it back into the frame. In both places where the hinges and the door connected, there were large holes: not huge, but big enough so that the door couldn't simply be reconnected.

"Lovely," Naruto muttered. "Damn door."

"Let's leave it here for now," Sakura suggested. "We can get a new one later."

"Where are we gonna get a new door?"

Sakura gestured to the outside world. "There are plenty of doors still out there. We'll just find one that fits."

Naruto made a noise of exasperation. "Yeah, because it'll be that easy."

Sakura huffed. "Stop your bitching and let's finish up!"

Scowling, Naruto turned and headed upstairs to assess the damage, while Sakura cleared away the last of the debris in the kitchen. He checked his own room first, and found it to be in order. He was turning to leave when a dark spot on the floor caught his eye. Puzzled, he stepped towards it and bent to pick it up. Just as his hand was about to brush the object, he jerked back with a sharp intake of breath.

The object was a piece of cloth almost as long as Naruto's forearm, its once black colouring now faded to a dull gray. Dirt and blood competed for space all along it. Naruto nudged it until it was face up, and his fears were confirmed: it was a Konoha headband.

"Oh, geez." Naruto's pale face turned towards the door.

"Hey, Sakura," he called down in a shaking voice. "You're going to want to take a look at this."

* * *

**I'M SORRY YOU ALL WAITED FOR THIS SHORT CHAPTER.**

**My inspiration came back. Something a certain somone said at a certain time gave me the will to finish this chapter.**

**I hope you all stick with me until the end! I'm sorry for the huge delay!**

**Are disclaimers honestly necessary here? I mean, _fan_fiction. I obviously don't own Naruto. Do I really need to say it everytime?**

**Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are encourage and appreciated!**

**_SNK_**


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